Singapore's first Olympic medallist Tan Howe Liang dies aged 91

Singapore's first Olympic medallist, weightlifter Tan Howe Liang, died on Tuesday (Dec 3) at the age of 91.

He died of pneumonia, reported The Straits Times.

After winning a historic silver medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics, Tan was Singapore's only Olympic medallist for nearly 50 years, until the women's table tennis team won Singapore's next medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Tan was a sportsman "born ahead of his time", chasing sporting glory at a time when a pre-independent, third-world Singapore paid "little attention to anything other than economic progress", read a tribute by the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC).

"Howe Liang's achievement has inspired many generations of Singaporeans," said SNOC President and Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.

"Athletes of his generation had much less, but they accepted what they had and trained hard. His achievement in Rome goes to show what one can achieve, if one simply devotes himself to it."

'Still an icon'

Tan was born in Swatow, China, in 1933 and emigrated to Singapore with his family when he was four.

He developed an interest in weightlifting after he came across a strongman competition and started training seriously in 1952.

Tan broke the clean and jerk world record at the 1958 Commonwealth Games and clinched gold at the Asian and Southeast Asian Peninsular (SEAP) Games in 1959.

He went on to win gold at the 1962 Perth Commonwealth Games after his 1960 Olympic feat.

[embed]https://www.tiktok.com/@asiaone/video/7411063262642539792[/embed]

Although Tan retired from the sport after failing to repeat his performance at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, he went on to train several future weightlifting champions such as Commonwealth Games bronze medallists Teo Yong Joo and Chua Koon Siong.

"Mr Tan leaves behind a strong legacy, because most weightlifters know who he is. He is still an icon, and a lot of lifters look up to him," said Tom Liaw, President of the Singapore Weightlifting Federation.

[[nid:707816]]

bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com